Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Look Back over Integrating Technology across the Content Areas

Upon reflecting on
this course, I can say without a doubt that using technology will make your
students more successful across the content areas. From the start, I was able
to use my own lesson plans, integrate technology and improve the results for my
students. Using different types of technology, from internet research to
digital movie making, students can create products that connect history to problems
we face today.

It was an
excellent choice to start the course by learning what authentic instruction is
and how to integrate technology into this instruction. One must always keep in
mind that you do not create a lesson for the use of technology, rather you
incorporate technology into the lessons already planned to meet standards. It
is most important for a teacher to have their students meet state, national, and
local standards and using technology can
help the students learn through collaboration and using 21st century
skills.

According to
Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, when using a PBL, “students are challenged to learn
by working cooperatively to find solutions to real-life problems. Curiosity and
interest in the process occurs naturally as students work in virtual and
face-to-face teams to solve authentic dilemmas” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer. 2009 p. 42). As an example of
authentic instruction, I used a lesson I designed on the Versailles Treaty. Using
my lesson on the Versailles Treaty, my students work in teams, they research by
using computers , the internet and
databases. However, the heart of the lesson is a debate/role-play/simulation in class of the peace conference of 1919, for
which no technology is used. This plan is an example of where a teacher
integrates technology into a lesson that meets state standards, rather than
writing a plan for using technology. In the Versailles Treaty plan, technology
is used only as a research aid and not the core of the plan.

I have been modifying my older plans to
include touches of technology to make it easier on the students to work with
and easier for me to grade. If all my students do is use the internet for
research, making sure they are using valid sites, it is making them work more
swiftly and having more fun as they work in teams. According to the
text, “digital historical libraries and archives is changing the way teachers
and students can access learning materials” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 p. 291). I can remember
having twenty to thirty history books on my desk with a dictionary and a thesaurus
while writing my papers out on loose leaf and then making all the editing and
corrections before typing those papers up to turn in for a grade. My students,
get to type their thoughts as they work, use spell check for the correct
spelling, click on the thesaurus for other ideas on terminology, and have a
clean desk since their research was done online. As a teacher it is also easier
not to carry around sixty essays at a time, students can post their research to
the class blog or to the wiki, either way it makes for much less paper work but
still provides authentic lessons for my students.

Using technology to help my diverse
learners has been wonderful. According to Ross, Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) was created by the Center for Applied Special Technologies
(CAST), with the aim to improve the education for all students through using
Universal Design for Learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010c). According to
Cennamo, et al., Universal Design for Learning “suggest that teachers can
remove barriers to learning by providing flexibility in terms of options for
materials, methods, and assessments” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.
117). My youngest son has dysgraphia
and he has been able to stay abreast of his schoolwork by using the computer to
help him write and spell. With my own students who are English language
learners (ELL),having the computer with
translators and image searches has helped them stay abreast with the rest of
the class on the majority of lessons. With some lessons these student still
need extra time and extra help to complete, especially when writing academic
style papers.

As a history teacher, I use many forms of assessment,
including having students write academic papers. Some of these assessments are
used with a technology base others with
very little technology, other than word processing. In our text, Cennamo, Ross and
Ertmer, describe four basic forms of assessment.The first of these assessment styles is the “force-option
format” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 p. 143) which is a multiple choice
test taken with the use of a computerized answer sheet that can analyze the
results for the teacher. I use this type of assessment at the end of each
chapter. Then there is the open-ended
response formats (Cennamo, Ross,
& Ertmer, 2009 p. 145), which are essays of various lengths. Then the third form of assessment is performance-based
assessments which according to the text are “are possible in all content areas
but may most easily be exemplified by domains that require oral communication
skills or the development of psychomotor skills in conjunction with other
content knowledge” ((Cennamo,
Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 p. 146). Finally, the fourth type of assessment and
the one most easily edited to include technology is the project-based
assessments. According to the text, “project-based learning typically results
in some type of product, perhaps a web page or a multimedia presentation, and
it may or may not include some type of performance, such as an oral report of
class presentation using the products students have created” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 p. 148).
Each type of assessment described can use some type of technology infusion.
However, some assessments lend themselves to more adaptable to technology than
others.

This course began with authentic
instruction and ends with problem-based learning. Problem-based learning, lends
itself for the infusion of technology however, there can be problems for
teachers developing authentic problem-based learning activities. Among
the challenges that Ertmer discussed are “finding a good problem, locating
appropriate resources, turning over control of the classroom to the students,
deciding how to group students, making sure that students are learning content,
and assessing student learning” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010d).
Simultaneously, students learn so much more by doing. They will do the
research, write the scripts, film themselves, interview others, make
connections between the past and the present, and so much more. With certain activities,
students will be able to collaborate with other students from their school,
state, country, and around the world by using educational networking with sites
such as Edmodo.

Technology aids a
student in their research and writing, prepares them with 21st century
skills, allows them to collaborate, and allows them to develop a finished
product on their own. Technology enhances the classroom lessons and enables for
deeper and more creative research and presentations. According to the project,
students will write, research, film, make costumes, execute make-up, and work
with green screens and many other things that cross the content areas. Would it
not be a good idea to have students complete a senior year project that
incorporates all of these aspects? The English teacher can grade the written
portions, the History teacher will concentrate on the research and the
conclusions derived from the research, the Technology teacher will grade based
on the techniques the students used in producing the product, the Art and
Sewing teachers will review costuming, make-up and backdrops. I believe this
would be a terrific across the content areas assignment, for students to end
their high school career.